


Monsters

by unicornspaceinvasion



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Human Castiel, M/M, Pre-Relationship, Soulmate AU, Soulmate-Identifying Marks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-29
Updated: 2017-07-29
Packaged: 2018-12-08 09:14:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,063
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11643486
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unicornspaceinvasion/pseuds/unicornspaceinvasion
Summary: Dean and Castiel don't particularly want soulmates.Set in After School Special high school era, with human Castiel.





	Monsters

**Author's Note:**

  * For [100fandoms](https://archiveofourown.org/users/100fandoms/gifts).



> God, I wish this was better but I finished it at at work during lunch on my phone.

Castiel never wanted to find his soulmate, not really. His parents were soulmates, and what had that done for them? Neither one could bear to leave the other, but their relationship was tainted with regret and pain and abuse. Castiel’s father had a sharp tongue, a swift hand, and a leather belt, none of which he was hesitant to use whenever he felt it appropriate. Castiel was lucky he’d been able to escape with his brother Gabriel to their aunt Rebecca’s house at the beginning if high school. If he could have one wish, he'd wish that people didn't have soulmates. 

Regardless, one morning in government class when the group was supposed to be doing silent reading, Castiel felt his palm start to tickle like somebody was running a pen over it. He yelped, jerking his hands away from the book reflexively. When he looked down, he saw foreign ink that hadn’t been there moments ago. Oh god.

Castiel clenched his fist and looked around to see if anyone had noticed. A couple other students gave him weird looks but went back to reading after just a moment. Castiel was considered one of the weird kids and, in this instance at least, it was finally working in his favor. 

“Excuse me, can I use the bathroom?” Castiel raised his right hand, left one still curled into a tight fist in his lap. Mr Shurley looked up from his computer and nodded and Castiel stood slowly, picking up his bag and heading for the door. He made his way down the hallway to the boys’ bathroom and locked himself inside a stall, leaning against the door and taking a deep breath. He didn’t want this. He’d hoped he could avoid it. But apparently not.  
He knew that most people’s soulmates didn’t turn out like his parents. He knew that in his head, but his heart still filled with dread at the thought of being connected to someone so completely random and potentially dangerous. But nothing was going to change it now, so he might as well get on with it. 

Castiel slowly relaxed his fingers to look at his palm. Despite all the fear, Castiel still felt a tiny twinge of excitement. What kind of things did his soulmate write on himself? Why was it coming to Cas now? There had never really been any science behind the timing when you started sharing your skin with your soulmate or whatever, but Castiel had always imagined it would come with a bit more fanfare than in the middle of 12th grade government class. 

There was messy red ink scrawled from his left thumb all the way across his hand and up onto his pinky. 

“-ROCK SALT  
-BULLET SHELLS  
-BLACK POWDER  
-GATORADE  
-SAMMY BIRTHDAY PRESENT-??” 

Well. Castiel didn’t quite know what to do with that list. Maybe his soulmate was some sort of NRA fanatic? 

The thought made him very uncomfortable. It was bad enough knowing that soulmates weren’t really as happy as everyone pretended they were, but for his soulmate to be obsessed with weapons? The thought chilled him. 

Castiel pulled a spare pen out of his pocket and uncapped it, pulling up his sleeve cuff to reveal his pale wrist. There were so many options to talk to the other person. Should he ask about the person (presumably male, considering the handwriting)? Or about that Sammy? Should he say his name? All of the above? The thoughts spun through his mind too quickly, replacing any hope he had with a sort of queasiness that GGG making him feel anxious. The stall door was cool on his back and Castiel took a moment to just breathe, tilting his head back and closing his eyes before panic took over. 

After almost a full minute, when nothing else appeared on his hand and he felt more relaxed, Castiel rolled his shoulders and mentally squared up, putting pen to his skin before he could change his mind. 

***

Dean was sitting in Lit class, staring out the window and thinking about anything except whatever story his teacher was droning on about, when he got the weirdest feeling that somebody was writing on his hand which, if the daytime TV is to be trusted, means that his life just changed whether he wanted it to or not. But it wasn’t like Dean had anything better to do in class, so he pulled up his jacket sleeve a little and looked at the words neatly printed on his wrist. 

“What are the bullet shells for?” 

And wasn’t that just fantastic, Dean’s soulmate would be a curious one. Dean had thought about this before and it was stupid to write the list on his hand, but he didn’t think his soulmate would get connected with him so soon. Or at all. Sure, he’d thought about having one someday, but he kind of always pushed that thought aside because realistically he’d probably be dead before he could even start looking. There were too many monsters out there for him to win every fight. But hey, look at that. He had one; one with good handwriting, even. It almost made him feel bad for being such a sloppy writer, but Dean caught himself before he started down that train of thought. He didn’t owe his soulmate anything. Not yet. 

But hey, this provided him with an interesting opportunity to get to know someone without any pretenses. Which was something he’d considered. He could tell his soulmate anything; the person had no way to find him unless he shared his information. He could tell the truth. 

Dean wasn’t sure why he actually did it, but it felt like the right thing to do. 

“MONSTERS.” 

***

Castiel had been in the bathroom too long, he knew that, but this was a big deal. He didn’t quite know what to do but the first step would be getting out of school and somewhere safe. Definitely not home, not yet. This was special and Castiel didn’t want anyone else to ruin it for him. 

His soulmate wrote back as he was finally stepping out of the bathroom. The single word, blocked out more carefully than the previous list. 

Okay then, his soulmate wasn't just a gun nut. He was a crazy gun nut. 

Castiel didn't write back. 

***

Dean knew this would happen. What even possessed him to write something like that to his soulmate? His one chance for something real in life and he probably, no, definitely scared them off.  
Idiot. 

When he'd picked up Sammy from middle school and gotten back to the motel and nothing else had appeared on his skin, Dean knew he shouldn't expect anything else from them. But this was important so he had to tell Sammy. 

“Hey, buddy, wanna see something crazy? You have to promise not to tell Dad, though.” 

Sam was reading some thick book, but put it down and looked over at Dean with raised eyebrows. 

“Yeah, sure.”

Dean showed Sam his palm, the list, and the stranger’s reply. Not Dean’s stupid second note. It took his brother a moment to realize what it actually meant, but when he did his eyes went wide and he sucked in a deep breath. 

“Dean, that's so awesome!” 

Dean nodded. He should be proud that he got this whole thing started so early. Some people had to wait decades longer than he did. But at the same time, he already screwed it up. 

Sammy started digging through his bag, coming up triumphantly with a ballpoint pen.

“Can I write something? What do you think she's like?” He pulled up Dean’s right sleeve and poised the pen above his skin without waiting for permission. 

Dean isn't sure how to tell Sammy that it's not likely a she at all, so he just shrugs. Plays it cool, because Sammy has to have somebody to look up to. 

“Go ahead, dork.” He grinned and ruffled Sammy’s hair, resulting in a squawk of indignation. But it didn't distract Sam for long. 

“HI! :)” Sam wrote in big letters across Dean’s forearm. 

Well, he could have written significantly worse things. 

***

Castiel was playing with his cat, Gracie, when a tickle went up his arm. He cringed a little. He knew he shouldn't judge his soulmate by their first interaction, but it's easy to imagine all the ways this relationship (or whatever it was) could go sideways. 

When he looked down at his arm, one big word and a smiley face stared back at him. This wasn't the same person as before, obviously, and Castiel thought back to the list still smudging his palm. He got up and went looking for a pen or marker, Gracie bounding along after him. 

“Sammy?” less than ten seconds passed before the second somebody wrote back. 

“Yes! You're Dean's soulmate, that's so cool!” 

Dean. He had a name to put to the writing. And apparently Sammy wasn't Dean’s girlfriend (boyfriend? Since apparently Castiel was gonna be gay). 

He might as well get introductions over with. 

“I am Castiel  
17  
High school senior  
Not a fan of guns or soulmates”

He felt kind of bad adding that last part, but he decided to anyway. He might as well get his negative stuff out in the open since, barring a very expensive and painful procedure, he'd be sharing his skin with this Dean for the rest of their lives. 

“DEAN  
18  
BIG FAN OF GUNS”

The handwriting was the messy original one again. 

The other one ‘sounded’ young, for all Castiel could tell. 

“For the monsters?” 

“NO THAT WAS A JOKE”

Suddenly Castiel felt a bit stupid. Of course it was a joke. What kind of gullible idiot was he? 

***

Castiel seemed to accept the “joke” response and their conversation was able to move away from the subject, though when Sam saw he’d told Castiel about the monsters he had a whole nother issue to deal with. 

“You told him about the hunting?” Sam was disbelieving. 

“Yeah, and it was stupid, okay? But I fixed it. So we don't have to talk about hunting, or guns, or anything. It'll be fine, Sammy.” He tried to look like it wasn't a big deal to him. 

“Alright, but you're gonna regret that when you meet him.” Sam stated in true youngest-child form and Dean rolled his eyes, though he secretly agreed. 

***

As they talked more, Castiel found out that his soulmate might not be a terrible person. Maybe. He might be pretty ok. 

 

***

Dean pulled up to the new school, annoyed that he had to go back to a school when he'd graduated the summer before. However, something was taking kids out of the locker room and somebody had to find out what. Dad had let him come on this hunt because He could be the janitor, but a student would be much easier for the kids to talk to. 

He entered the front office and introduced himself, absentmindedly itching at his knuckled where Cas had drawn stars on each finger while Dean was sleeping. He'd tried to wash them off but they were stubborn and they helped him look like more of an absentminded high schooler anyway. 

He was walked to his first class, schedule in hand, and introduced to a class that couldn't be less interested if they tried. There was one boy in the back that was watching him intently though. Dean couldn't figure out if he was staring or had eye problems. If it was a challenge, Dean would take it. There was an empty seat next to him and Dean didn't wait for an assigned seat, instead swaggering to the seat and dropping down next to Crazy Eyes. As he sat down he gave the guy a once over, noting the ridiculous just-rolled-out-of-bed hair, oversized trench coat, and bitten down fingernails. He froze completely when he noticed the kid next to him (who was still staring at him, though now from the side) had some very distinct, very familiar patterns on his knuckles. 

Dean pulled his Henley sleeve over his hand and tucked it under the desk. 

“What's your name?” he asked quietly, turning away to face forward. 

“Castiel Novak. Yours?” he replied with the lowest, most mature voice Dean had ever heard from a high school kid. 

Alright then. This hunt was going to be a lot harder than he had hoped.


End file.
